Indian economy at inflection point, needs growth rethink: CEA Nageswaran | Economy & Policy News

By Anup Roy

India’s economy is at an “inflection point” that requires the country to rethink policies that powered its growth over the past three decades, according to Chief Economic Advisor Anantha Nageswaran. 

“This is a period of churn and this is an inflection point,” Nageswaran said at an event in New Delhi on Tuesday. What served the country well since it gained independence from the British colonial rule “may not necessarily be adequate for the next 25 years,” Nageswaran said.

“We need to raise our game in multiple respects.” 

Nageswaran argued that India needs to rethink its development model for the AI era, using artificial intelligence to boost workers rather than replace them and avoiding the capital-intensive model pursued by richer economies.

The country’s youth should be open to acquiring trade skills rather than relying solely on conventional education as artificial intelligence reshapes employment, he added. 

“We have to find ways in which we use AI to complement rather than displace labor, because we are a large country,” he said. 

Nageswaran expressed confidence in India’s economy amid geopolitical tensions and high crude oil prices, pointing to strong bank credit growth, tax collections and healthy corporate and banking sector balance sheets. The economy grew a solid 7.8% in the April-June quarter.

“The private sector must invest, must hire and must compensate fairly and also invest in R&D because the next 20 years is going to be very different from the last 80 years post World War II,” he said.